Communist Chic: 8 Strange Examples of Soviet Design

"In 1974—five years after the arcade game Midway Sea Raider came out in the U.S.—Soviet kids got to wage naval warfare of their own," Idov says. "Not really a video game, Morskoi Boi was more like pinball with lights: flat cutouts of enemy ships crawled against a painted backdrop," and players tried to hit them with torpedoes.
Today, gamers and history buffs can try their hand at rudimentary arcade warfare online at the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games.

Morskoi Boi ("Sea Battle") Arcade Game

Morskoi Boi ("Sea Battle") Arcade Game

"In 1974—five years after the arcade game Midway Sea Raider came out in the U.S.—Soviet kids got to wage naval warfare of their own," Idov says. "Not really a video game, Morskoi Boi was more like pinball with lights: flat cutouts of enemy ships crawled against a painted backdrop," and players tried to hit them with torpedoes.

Zaporozhets Car

Zaporozhets Car

"The Zaporozhets, the Soviets' answer to Fiat 600, was the cheapest car on the market—its head engineer had said that the price cutoff was '1000 bottles of vodka,'" Idov says. "Its idiosyncrasies—engine in the back, comically ear-like air intakes, an optional hatch in the floor for ice fishing—made it the butt of countless jokes. These days, there's a whole community devoted to loopy modifications of old 'Zapors.' Vladimir Putin, proud owner of a 1972 model, is reportedly a member."